Jochen’s switched his engine off, as it tightened before it went ka-boom, having had problems in practice, on lap 43 whilst in third. Niel was 5th and Piers had an accident on lap 5 after a passing move on Graham Hill went pear-shaped at BMC bend. Chris Amon won in his works Ferrari 246T Dino.

Rindt’s Lotus 49 during dry, Saturday practice at Warwick Farm. He and Chris Amon’s Ferrari 246T had an electrifying duel for pole, won by Jochen in the final minutes of qualifying that day (R MacKenzie)

Allen Brown’s summary of the 1969 Tasman Series is a great one, it says a lot in the minimum number of words. I like that!

‘Chris Amon was back for 1969 and taking it much more seriously with two Ferrari 246T/69s for himself and teammate Derek Bell and four 300 bhp 24-valve engines. Despite the loss of Jim Clark, Lotus were present with a two-car team of Lotus 49Bs for Graham Hill and new teammate Jochen Rindt. BRM did not enter so the only other overseas entry was Frank Williams who had a Brabham BT24 for Piers Courage’.

‘Rindt proved to be Amon’s closest rival but spun away the lead at both Pukekohe and Levin, leaving Amon to win both races, before the Austrian took a comfortabe win at Wigram. A dominant victory at Lakeside’s Australian GP for Amon meant Rindt could no longer catch him and when Amon and Courage tangled at Warwick Farm, the Kiwi was champion’. Rindt had a stunning weekend in both practice and an amazing wet weather drive which blew the minds of the Sydney spectators and his rivals.

‘He (Amon) rounded off the season with victory at Sandown, his sixth in two seasons’.

Rindt mesmerised 16,000 soggy Sydney-siders with his raceday drive during the ’69 Warwick Farm 100 on 9 February. He ran away and hid after Amon and Piers Courage collided on the first lap (R MacKenzie)

Now that the visiting British teams were using F1 cars and then taking them home, there was no longer the annual influx of new machinery for the locals. Alec Mildren had the funding necessary to commission specials but the number of competitive 2.5-litre cars was definitely dropping. David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce was the nominal entrant of Amon’s Ferraris but no longer ran their own car. This season, Mildren had installed his Alfa V8 in a car designed for him by Len Bailey and constructed by Alan Mann Racing in England’(the monocoque Mildren Alfa ‘Yellow Submarine in addition to his ’68 Tasman Special, the Brabham BT23D Alfa driven by Kevin Bartlett’).

Like this:

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The “moody Rindt shot” is mine, taken in the pits at Warwick Farm. Look in the mirror – you can see his goggles and mask. Thanks for using it. Rod Mackenzie
I am redeveloping my Tasman Cup Series page- check it out sometime.

Thanks Rod,
I should have been able to pick it by now! I think the photo was loitering on the Rindt Facebook page without attribution of course! Now fixed. I will check out your Tasman page- and I still owe you a response re that article I mentioned a while back- I just need to list the images I’m after to go with it- too many great ones to choose from!
Mark